Affidea, the pan-European provider of community-based clinics, advanced diagnostics, and specialist private healthcare services, today announces a strategic partnership with LIPS Healthcare (London International Patient Services), the UK’s largest private consultant-led multi-specialty group. LIPS Healthcare’s strong clinical reputation, premium London presence and entrepreneurial medical culture make it a natural partner for Affidea as the Group brings its pan-European expertise in out-of-hospital care to the UK market.

As part of this partnership, Affidea will co-invest alongside LIPS Healthcare in a state-of-the-art 40,000-square-foot multi-specialty clinic, located on Prince of Wales Drive, due to break ground later this year, as well as in the extension of the existing Battersea Power Station Clinic. This will enable the business to expand its footprint, strengthen its diagnostic and treatment capabilities, and continue building an ecosystem where leading consultants can collaborate, innovate and continue delivering high-quality care for patients. Affidea’s investment marks an important step in its UK growth strategy, strengthening its presence in one of Europe's most dynamic private healthcare markets.

Together, Affidea and LIPS Healthcare will create a platform for future growth in Southwest London, combining LIPS’s established consultant-led model and strong clinical reputation with Affidea’s European expertise in building and scaling high-quality, patient-centred, community-based healthcare services. With a network of more than 420 centres in 14 countries, Affidea will bring international know-how, operational capabilities and growth expertise to support LIPS Healthcare’s expansion, while preserving the clinical culture and entrepreneurial spirit that have shaped its success.

Founded in 2016 by orthopaedic consultants Paul Culpan and Ibraheim El-Daly, LIPS Healthcare has grown into the UK’s largest private multi-specialty group, bringing together more than 170 teaching hospital consultants across over 25 specialities. Headquartered at Battersea Power Station, LIPS provides patients with access to a broad range of services, including GP care, diagnostics, radiology, cardiology, dermatology, gynaecology, fertility, plastic surgery, paediatrics, urgent care and other specialist services.

The announcement follows Affidea’s recent UK investments, including the opening of diagnostic clinics in Whitstable, Kent and St. Asaph, North Wales, alongside the development of its new outpatient and ambulatory surgical centre in Wimbledon, located within a major retail destination and due to open in autumn 2026. Together, with the strategic co-investment in LIPS Healthcare, these investments underline Affidea’s long-term commitment to the UK market and its ambition to expand access to high-quality, community-based private healthcare in locations that are convenient and accessible for patients.

Quotes

“The UK private healthcare market is evolving rapidly, with growing demand for high-quality outpatient care delivered in more convenient and accessible settings. Our partnership with LIPS Healthcare gives Affidea a strong platform to help support that evolution. LIPS has built an impressive consultant-led model in London, with a reputation for clinical excellence and patient experience. By combining this with Affidea’s expertise in out-of-hospital scalable care models, we can support the next stage of LIPS’s growth and expand access to high-quality, patient-centred care across London and, over time, the wider UK market.”

— Barry Downes, CEO Affidea UK & Ireland

“Ten years ago, we set out to build something different, a home for medicine’s best minds, where consultants could lead, innovate, and genuinely shape the care they deliver. What we have built since then has exceeded every expectation. This partnership with Affidea is not the end of that journey. It is the moment that allows us to shift into higher gear. Affidea didn’t just believe in LIPS. They understood us. That trust means everything to me, to Paul, and to every consultant who is part of this organisation.”

— Ibraheim El-Daly, Founder & Managing Director, LIPS Healthcare

“Over the past years, we have built a strong track record in expanding access to exceptional care, delivered in an out-of-hospital setting across multiple markets, always with a focus on quality, patient experience and clinical governance. LIPS Healthcare represents a highly credible consultant-led platform in the UK, with a model that aligns closely with our vision for the future of outpatient healthcare. This investment strengthens our European footprint and marks an important new chapter for Affidea in the UK, one of Europe’s most dynamic healthcare markets.”

— Dr. Charles Niehaus, Executive Director, Affidea Group

 “In ten years of building LIPS, the question I’ve always asked is are we doing right for our patients and our doctors? This partnership allows us to answer that question with even greater confidence. Affidea brings world-class infrastructure, deep expertise, and a genuine belief in what we are building. Together, we have the platform to take LIPS further and faster than we could have gone alone — and to do it without compromising a single one of the values that got us here.”

— Paul Culpan, Founder & CEO, LIPS Healthcare

About Affidea Group

Affidea is Europe’s largest network of community-based polyclinics, advanced diagnostics and Centres of Excellence specialised in oncology, orthopaedics and neurology. Founded in 1991, the company operates approximately 420 centres across 14 countries and supports more than 15 million patients every year with accessible, high-quality healthcare delivered close to where they live and work. In the UK, Affidea is present through its Fortius Clinic Centres of Excellence, now expanding its outpatient healthcare presence through the development of the new Affidea Wimbledon outpatient clinic, located in a major retail destination and expected to open in autumn 2026, and through its strategic minority investment in LIPS Healthcare. Together, these initiatives reflect Affidea’s long-term commitment to the UK market and its ambition to bring its European expertise in community-based care, to patients across London and, over time, the wider UK. Affidea is majority-owned by Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), a leading investment holding company, focused on long-term value-creation with a stable and supportive family shareholder base. For more information, visit www.affidea.com.

About LIPS Healthcare

Founded in 2016, LIPS Healthcare is the UK’s largest private multi-specialty group. Now headquartered at Battersea Power Station, London, LIPS has over 170 teaching hospital consultants across 25+ specialties, treating more than 70,000 patients annually, offering same-day appointments with no referral required. LIPS Healthcare partners with all leading insurers and embassies, offering care across GP, Dental, Physiotherapy, Aesthetics, Radiology, Cardiology, Dermatology, Gynaecology, Fertility, Plastic Surgery, Sexual Health, Urgent Care, Paediatrics and more. LIPS Healthcare is rated 4.8 out of 5 across patient review platforms with over 5,000 reviews. For more information, visit www.lips.org.uk.

Media Contact

Oana Dumitroiu
SVP Marketing & Communication, Affidea Group
oana.dumitroiu@affidea.com
+40 738 674 320

Mine Sino
Commercial and Partnerships, LIPS Healthcare
mine.sino@lips.org.uk

Geely Automobile Holdings (hereafter "Geely Auto") and Ford Motor Company today announced an agreement to form a Europe-focused joint venture (JV) at Ford's Valencia, Spain, manufacturing hub.

The JV will share production capacity to deliver a world-class lineup of multi-energy vehicles for both Geely Auto and Ford brands that will appeal to European drivers, while simultaneously benefiting the local Valencia economy.

Pending regulatory approvals, the JV will officially begin operations in the first half of 2027, with the first new vehicles scheduled to roll off the production line in 2028.

The JV will transform Ford’s Valencia facility — already one of Europe’s most productive and advanced automotive plants, with a potential annual capacity of approximately 500,000 units — into a shared, high-tech manufacturing hub. By optimizing factory utilization and sharing development costs, the partnership will bolster operational excellence and provide long-term stability and employment opportunities for Valencia’s world-class automotive workforce. Under the proposed ownership structure Geely Auto will own 34% of the new entity and Ford will own 66%.

Geely Auto plans to produce two new energy models at the Valencia plant, with the first rolling off the production line in 2028. The venture supports Geely Auto's international expansion, following overseas sales of 474,228 vehicles in the first half of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 158%, making it one of the fastest growing Chinese automotive brands in the world.

Geely Auto’s partnership with Ford is built on a foundation of trust and respect stretching back to 2010 when Ford sold Volvo Cars to Geely and watched it protect and revitalize the brand. Both companies share a commitment to quality, cost-efficient sourcing and continuous improvement, as well as a belief that customers should be able to choose their own path through the energy transition.

“This strategic cooperation with Ford is an important step towards open collaboration and mutually beneficial to both parties. It represents a milestone in Geely Auto’s global development and will further solidify Geely’s presence in Europe,” said Alex Nan, Vice President of Geely Auto Group. “We are dedicated to delivering vehicles that European customers will choose on merit: on industry leading features, on high-quality and on actively contributing to Europe’s green future.”

“For nearly 50 years, Valencia has built some of the most-loved cars in our history, and now this team will help build our future,” said Jim Baumbick, president, Ford Europe. “That’s why we’re building a flexible, cost-effective industrial system with a capable partner in Geely Auto. Together we can fully utilize a great plant with a great workforce and match the industry’s new cost benchmark. This is all part of Ford’s vision to give European drivers rally-bred handling, true off-road capability and multi-energy technology, with a distinct Blue Oval DNA.”

About Geely Auto Group

Geely Auto Group is a leading global automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, China. Part of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Geely Auto Group develops and manufactures passenger vehicles under the Geely, Lynk & Co, and Zeekr brands. With a strong focus on technology innovation, electrification, and sustainable mobility, Geely Auto Group operates world-class R&D centers and manufacturing facilities across China, Europe, and key international markets. The Group is committed to delivering safe, high-quality, and intelligent vehicles enabled by advanced technologies such as hybrid powertrains, full-electric architectures, smart connectivity, and autonomous driving systems. As a global company, Geely Auto Group continues to expand its international presence through strategic partnerships, localized operations, and industry-leading platforms. Geely strives to create mobility solutions that are greener, smarter, and more accessible, driving forward the future of sustainable transportation. For more information, visit global.geely.com.

Media Contact

Janet Chen
media@geely.com

Modern facial rejuvenation is increasingly moving beyond isolated cosmetic procedures towards comprehensive assessment of the eyelids, brows, temples and midface, reflecting broader demand for more personalised treatment planning and natural-looking outcomes, according to European board-certified oculoplastic surgeon Dr. Yildiz Acar Ebcim.

Rather than addressing a single anatomical concern, practitioners are increasingly evaluating the structures surrounding the eyes as interconnected components that influence both appearance and function. The approach seeks to identify the underlying causes of visible ageing before determining whether surgery, non-surgical treatment or a combination of techniques is appropriate.

"Ageing around the eyes is rarely limited to excess eyelid skin alone," said Dr. Acar Ebcim. "Changes in brow position, facial volume, skin quality and lower eyelid support can all contribute to the overall appearance. Treatment planning should begin with understanding the patient's anatomy rather than selecting a standard procedure."

The shift reflects growing patient preference for subtle, individualised results rather than more dramatic cosmetic changes. According to Dr. Acar Ebcim, comprehensive treatment plans may combine procedures such as upper or lower blepharoplasty, canthopexy, fat grafting, and endoscopic brow lifting with selected energy-based technologies. For specialized requests — such as understanding who is suitable for almond eye surgery — clinicians assess whether multi-modal plans or fewer interventions yield the safest, most natural results.

She said advances in diagnostic imaging, endoscopic surgical techniques and regenerative aesthetic treatments are expanding the options available to clinicians, allowing treatment plans to be tailored more precisely to individual anatomy and functional requirements.

"The objective is not to perform multiple procedures routinely," Dr. Acar Ebcim said. "It is to identify the anatomical causes of each patient's concerns and select only the techniques that are appropriate for that individual."

She added that preserving eyelid function, eye protection and natural facial expression should remain central considerations throughout treatment planning.

The evolution of oculoplastic surgery is also placing greater emphasis on the relationship between surgery and non-surgical treatments. Rather than viewing aesthetic procedures in isolation, clinicians are increasingly considering how structural correction, skin quality, facial volume and tissue support interact to influence long-term outcomes.

Looking ahead, Dr. Acar Ebcim expects diagnostic imaging, anatomy-based assessment and personalised treatment strategies to play an increasingly important role in periocular rejuvenation, as clinicians continue to balance aesthetic goals with functional preservation.

"The future is not about offering every available procedure to every patient," she said. "It is about using better diagnostic tools, understanding anatomy in greater detail and selecting the least invasive treatment that can appropriately address the patient's needs."

About Dr. Yıldız Acar Ebcim

Dr. Yildiz Acar Ebcim is a European Board-Certified Oculoplastic Surgeon based in Istanbul, Türkiye. With more than 15 years of experience and over 30,000 surgical and non-surgical periocular procedures performed, her practice focuses on aesthetic and reconstructive surgery of the eyelids, brows, midface and upper facial region. Her areas of expertise include upper blepharoplasty, transconjunctival lower blepharoplasty, ptosis correction, endoscopic brow lifting, endoscopic midface lifting, under-eye and facial fat grafting, microfat and nanofat grafting, ultrasound-guided assessment and targeted dissolution of hyaluronic acid fillers, fractional laser treatments, radiofrequency applications and personalised regenerative aesthetic procedures. Dr. Yildiz Acar Ebcim’s approach combines advanced oculoplastic surgery, diagnostic imaging, energy-based technologies and carefully selected medical aesthetic treatments. Her treatment philosophy focuses on natural-looking outcomes while preserving eyelid function, facial expression and individual facial harmony. For more information, visit www.yildizacarebcim.com.

Disclaimer

This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Results, risks, recovery times, and suitability for any surgical or non-surgical procedure vary by individual. Patients should consult a qualified healthcare professional for a personalized assessment before undergoing treatment. No specific outcome is guaranteed.

Media Contact

Dr Yildiz Acar Ebcim
dryildizacar@gmail.com

Supertab, the company building the economic layer for AI agent commerce, today launched a free WordPress plugin, now live in the WordPress Plugin Directory.

The internet is being rebuilt around machine consumption, and this launch responds directly to that structural shift. Bots and AI agents now read more of the web than people do, and the businesses producing that content are the last in line to get paid for it. Supertab gives them a practical, install-and-go tool to define how AI systems and automated crawlers can access their content, without writing a single line of code.

"WordPress powers over 40% of the web," said Cosmin Ene, founder and CEO of Supertab. "That means a huge share of the content being scraped and fed into AI models belongs to WordPress publishers who have had no practical way to set terms or track usage. That's what this plugin does — set your terms, meter the access, in the time it takes to install anything else."

The plugin adds two capabilities to any WordPress site. RSL License Serving automatically publishes a machine-readable license file at /license.xml, telling AI crawlers and agents the terms under which they can access the site. The Crawler Authentication Protocol (CAP) lets publishers manage licensing relationships with their customers, verifying that bots accessing their content are presenting valid license tokens — confirming who is accessing the site, monitoring usage against agreed terms, and controlling coverage down to specific URL path patterns.

Setup takes minutes. Publishers install the plugin and enter their Website URN from the Supertab dashboard, and their license.xml goes live. To turn on verification, they add a Merchant API Key and choose which paths to cover. No infrastructure changes, no developer involvement.

"WordPress publishers produce an enormous share of the content that AI systems are training on and retrieving from every day. Practical, install-and-go tooling that lets individual publishers set their own terms is still emerging, and seeing it land inside the WordPress ecosystem they already know is exactly the kind of forward motion the open web needs," said Dave Lockie, Corporate Strategy & Growth, Automattic.

AI training and retrieval systems are consuming web content at an unprecedented scale. Publishers who take no action are giving their work away for free, with no visibility into how or where it is used. Blocking all crawlers is one answer, but it cuts off legitimate, revenue-generating access too. Supertab gives content owners a third path: define your terms, verify your partners, and get paid for access.

The Wordpress plugin is free and available now. A Supertab account is required to activate it.

More information about Supertab Connect can be found at www.supertab.co/supertab-connect.

About Supertab

Supertab is the infrastructure for consumption-based commerce. As AI inference transforms how content, services, and intelligence are consumed, organizations need a new economic model that can measure, price, govern, and settle usage across humans, agents, and enterprises. Supertab provides the infrastructure layer that meters usage, applies pricing, aggregates economic activity, enforces policy, and settles transactions across systems. For more information, visit www.supertab.co.

Media Contact

Head of Communications, Supertab
jnicholson@supertab.co

Lucra, the leading social competition platform, today announced a partnership with Grass League, the world's premier par-3 golf league, featuring franchise teams of professional and amateur golfers competing under the lights. Through the integration, Lucra will power both real-money and free-to-play competitions around Grass League events, starting with the league's 2026 Summer Grind, taking place September 4–6 at Goat Hill Park in Oceanside, California. Tickets for Summer Grind are on sale now.

The partnership introduces two distinct ways for fans to compete alongside the golf itself. Ahead of each tournament, fans can enter a real-money, skill-based trivia game, testing their knowledge of the players and franchises by picking things like which golfer will hit it closest to the pin or which teams will outperform the field. During live play, a free-to-play, in-game experience lets fans make real-time calls on outcomes as they happen, like whether a player will make birdie or eagle on a given hole, with correct picks earning discounts and rewards that can be spent onsite during the event and at home. Lucra manages all payments, cash prizing, rewards, and discount fulfillment on the backend, giving Grass League a fully compliant competition layer with limited engineering lift required.

“Grass League has built a format that's fun to watch and easy to follow for fans who crave stakes-based entertainment. Its fast-paced style is the perfect fit for today’s fan, as it delivers constant action and fun on every hole," said Dylan Robbins, CEO and founder of Lucra. "Adding a way to test your knowledge before the tournament and make calls in real time once play starts gives fans a reason to lock in on every shot from the very first event.” 

"We built Grass League to be a league fans could get close to, not just watch from a distance," said Connor Riley, co-founder of Grass League. "Lucra gives us a way to make that real: fans testing what they know about our players before the tournament, then making calls in real time once we're playing. It's a new way for people to feel like part of the action from the very first event."

Grass League will market the integration directly to its fanbase across its digital and in-person channels, extending the games to fans following the league both on-site and remotely.

The partnership launches with the 2026 Summer Grind, where 11 Grass League franchises will send 110 players to compete in a 36-hole scramble format. Tickets are available now on Grass League's website, with the season culminating at the Grass League Championship, taking place December 4–5.

About Lucra

Lucra is a plug-and-play SDK that integrates into apps or websites, enabling peer-to-peer competitions with real-money or rewards. It handles compliance, payments, fraud prevention, and settlement out of the box, so partners can instantly offer gamified experiences without building or managing complex infrastructure themselves. Top entertainment, hospitality, and consumer brands, including Five Iron Golf, Puttshack, Backyard Sports, ChessKings, TouchTunes, and more, use Lucra's white-label technology to power tournaments and challenges, build loyalty, and drive new revenue. Learn more at www.playlucra.com. 

About Grass League

Grass League is the world's first high-stakes par-3 golf league, redefining short-format competition as a standalone sport. Built around franchise ownership, elite professional and amateur players, and modern media distribution, Grass League delivers fast-paced, team-based competition under the lights for live audiences and digital platforms. Learn more at grassleague.com.

Media Contact

Lindsay Linhart
Brand Strategist, Lucra
lindsay@playlucra.com

Shanghai Droi Technology has announced the launch of DroiClaw, an AI-native operating system designed to transform smart terminals from app-driven devices into intelligent, agent-powered assistants.

Built on a hybrid edge-cloud architecture, DroiClaw embeds multimodal AI agents directly into core operating-system services. The platform enables users to complete complex, cross-service tasks through natural voice, text, image, file and video interactions — without repeatedly switching between individual applications.

The launch comes as the technology industry moves toward a new generation of intelligent devices in which AI is integrated into the operating system itself, rather than added as a standalone application or chatbot feature.

DroiClaw reflects Shanghai Droi Technology’s vision of creating a more natural and intelligent relationship between people and their devices. Built around large-scale models and multimodal AI-agent technologies, DroiClaw is a smart-terminal operating system that integrates AI agents into core system-level functions, including task scheduling, device control, user interaction, and privacy management.

The platform also supports personalized AI avatars, customizable personalities and voices, skill creation and installation, multimodal conversations, image analysis, and document processing. Its on-device AI design enables agents to work across applications and sensors to complete tasks.

AI-Native and Hybrid Architecture

DroiClaw’s technical foundation is a hybrid edge-cloud architecture that combines lightweight on-device models with more powerful cloud-based large models. Under normal conditions, users primarily access cloud-based large models, which support advanced capabilities such as multimodal interactions, AIGC, complex reasoning, up-to-date information processing, and skill execution.

On-device models mainly serve as a fallback in specific situations, such as when network access is unavailable or cloud service credits have been exhausted. In these cases, the system can automatically switch to a local model to handle basic question-and-answer tasks. Shanghai Droi Technology states that the architecture is not tied to any specific model or hardware platform. It is compatible with mainstream AI models and also supports customized or privately deployed models. This flexible architecture is designed to improve response speed while strengthening privacy protection, giving users greater security, flexibility, and control.

Main Functions and User Experience

DroiClaw focuses on multimodal, agent-led interactions, which means that users can interact by using their voice, text, images, files, and live video questions. Agents then analyze those inputs to translate, summarize, draft text, extract data, or answer context-aware queries. Since these agents are integrated at the system level, they can coordinate workflows across services and sensors. For instance, they help users plan a trip by checking calendars, scanning messages to extract relevant information, and booking options via third-party services without requiring users to open third-party apps. This open ecosystem also includes built-in services that read images, analyze documents, offer real-time information feeds, provide writing assistance, etc.

Shanghai Droi Technology positions these features as native OS services that evolve with user behavior to provide a more personalized, continuous assistant experience.

Hardware-Neutral Platform and Open Ecosystem

Shanghai Droi Technology said DroiClaw is designed as a hardware-neutral platform that integrates AI capabilities at the operating system level. The company said the system is designed to support different types of smart terminals, including devices across various hardware configurations. The system is also designed to be open to terminal manufacturers, developers, and tech partners, while also offering support for multiple AI models and private deployments to avoid lock-in situations. This openness aims to nurture an AI agent ecosystem where third-party skills freely coexist with various model choices and hardware diversity.

Shanghai Droi Technology describes this vision as an app-free, agentic OS in which agents can help users complete cross-service tasks through natural interaction. Therefore, it reduces the friction of manual app navigation. Device makers and developers simultaneously enjoy new integration options, which the company calls a win-win situation for everyone.

About Shanghai Droi Technology

Shanghai Droi Technology, founded in 2008, brings established operating-system experience to the project: its FreemeOS platform is reported by the company to be installed on more than 200 million devices across dozens of countries and regions. That history, Shanghai Droi says, offers practical integration and deployment experience that informs DroiClaw’s design. DroiClaw is designed as a hybrid AI operating system that can be deployed across a range of hardware platforms. Its broader adoption will depend on manufacturer participation, developer engagement, and the system’s ability to balance automation with user control. Together, these factors could help make affordable AI solutions more widely available in global markets. For more information, visit www.droi.com.

Media Contact

Aurora Yang
yangchenxi@droi.com

On June 3, 2026, a class action lawsuit (Nietz v. LPL Financial LLC, No. 3:26-cv-03383-JES-DEB) was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California against LPL Financial LLC ("LPL") on behalf of a proposed class of individuals who acquired rights under Phoenix annuities or life insurance policies sold or serviced through LPL investment advisors. The lawsuit alleges that LPL breached fiduciary duties and failed to disclose information concerning the financial condition of The Phoenix Companies, Inc. and its subsidiary, PHL Variable Insurance Company ("Phoenix" or "PHL"), the issuer of the insurance products.

The lawsuit was filed by Kerry Nietz, who is represented by Bursor & Fisher, P.A. and Edward Stone Law P.C., on behalf of a proposed class of individuals who acquired rights under Phoenix annuities or life insurance policies sold or serviced through LPL investment advisors.

According to the complaint, ratings agencies downgraded Phoenix's credit rating beginning in 2009, after which LPL removed Phoenix products from its recommended platform and stopped offering them for sale. The complaint further alleges that LPL did not notify existing policyholders of these developments and continued servicing the policies while receiving ongoing trail commissions.

On May 20, 2024, the Connecticut Insurance Department placed PHL Variable Insurance Company into rehabilitation. A rehabilitation order remains in effect that limits or restricts certain policy withdrawals, surrenders and death benefit payments.

The complaint asserts claims for professional negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, fraudulent concealment, unjust enrichment, and violation of Washington's Consumer Protection Act. The plaintiff seeks certification of a nationwide class and other relief requested in the complaint.

Related Litigation

Bursor & Fisher, P.A. and Edward Stone Law P.C. also represent policyholders in separate litigation (Jason et al. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company et al., No. 25-cv-14507) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, involving Phoenix/PHL insurance products sold through State Farm. According to that complaint, the plaintiffs allege that State Farm failed to disclose information concerning PHL's financial condition while continuing to service certain Phoenix/PHL insurance products.

Both lawsuits remain pending, and the allegations contained in the complaints have not been adjudicated by the courts.

Individuals who acquired rights under a Phoenix or PHL Variable annuity or life insurance policy through LPL, State Farm, or another broker-dealer or financial advisor and who have questions regarding these matters can find additional information, including counsel contact information, at edwardstonelaw.com and bursor.com.

About Bursor & Fisher, P.A.

Bursor & Fisher, P.A. is a nationwide law firm with offices in New York, California, and Florida that specializes in prosecuting class action and complex litigation. The firm has extensive expertise leading class action litigation against companies in the communications, pharmaceutical, automotive, financial, and insurance industries, and has achieved multi-million dollar settlements against many large companies.

About Edward Stone Law P.C.

Edward Stone Law P.C. focuses its practice on matters related to the specialty finance and insurance industries and on retiree and policyholder advocacy. The firm has expertise representing individuals harmed by insurance company insolvencies and has recovered millions of dollars on behalf of its clients.

Disclaimer

Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Media Contact

Yitz Kopel
Bursor & Fisher, P.A.
ykopel@bursor.com

Edward Stone
Edward Stone Law P.C.
eddie@edwardstonelaw.com

Ground, the money infrastructure company, today announced its strategic expansion into tokenized assets, or real-world assets (RWAs), alongside the appointment of financial infrastructure veteran Stephanie Vaughan as COO. The milestone marks Ground’s evolution from a tech infrastructure startup into a trusted enterprise fintech partner.

Building on its recent fundraise, Ground is extending its infrastructure beyond crypto native yield to bring clients secure, transparent access to real-world assets. To fuel the launch, Ground has named tokenization infrastructure leaders Centrifuge and Superstate as core integration partners, starting with their tokenized T-bill funds managed by Janus Henderson (JTRSY) and Invesco (USTB), respectively, AAA CLO strategy managed by Janus Henderson (JAAA), and crypto basis strategy managed by Bitwise (USCC). Ground is built to enable compliance and product teams to dynamically tailor yield to their risk, return, and liquidity requirements and that customization is now available to the newly integrated RWAs, alongside crypto-native strategies.

“Tokenization’s unlock is when it’s an invisible layer that enables seamless, secure and customizable access to great investment products,” said Bhaji Illuminati, CEO at Centrifuge. “And Ground is doing just that. They’re building the exact infrastructure needed to connect traditional fintech with diversified real-world assets. We’re thrilled to be a RWA launch partner with Ground, integrating Centrifuge’s asset pools into Ground’s API, enabling institutions to seamlessly manage risk and liquidity profiles.”

Anchoring this expansion is the addition of Stephanie Vaughan as COO, the former COO and co-founder of Veda and Seven Sevens. Vaughan has spent years building in DeFi, scaling secure digital asset platforms, and navigating the complex legal, regulatory, and compliance frameworks required for institutional adoption. Her leadership connects Ground's infrastructure to the institutions increasingly moving between traditional asset management and onchain rails.

“Traditional financial applications and neobanks are eager to offer performant yields and leverage found onchain, but they cannot afford to compromise on compliance or risk management," said Stephanie Vaughan, COO at Ground. "Ground has built the trusted, configurable plumbing that treats compliance as a feature, not a hurdle. I look forward to driving our go-to-market strategy as we supercharge corporate balances and connect mainstream finance to highly differentiated, institutional-grade RWA yield."

“The addition of Stephanie Vaughan to our leadership team cements our position as the credible choice for compliance-minded institutions seeking the full spectrum of onchain yield from crypto native strategies to real-world assets,“ said Reid Cuming, CEO and co-founder of Ground.

Ground’s platform including RWAs is live today for all B2B and B2B2C API partners. For more information, visit groundtech.co.

About Ground

Ground is the premier enterprise-grade API infrastructure layer for institutional onchain finance. Co-founded by fintech and digital asset veterans from Stripe, Superstate, HiFi, and Compound, Ground enables financial applications and platforms to seamlessly embed onchain asset management directly into their products. Ground is backed by leading venture firms including Bain Capital Crypto, ParaFi, Nascent, Robot Ventures, and Chapter One. Learn more at groundtech.co. 

About Superstate

Superstate partners with issuers to bring securities onchain, enabling access to new investor capital and modern financial markets. Through Opening Bell, Superstate partners with companies issuing tokenized equity. Through FundOS, it serves asset managers launching tokenized funds. Both platforms support compliant issuance, record keeping, direct investor registration, and onchain market integration via their SEC-registered transfer agency infrastructure. Superstate's flagship funds USTB (now the Invesco Short Duration US Government Securities Fund) and USCC (now the Bitwise Crypto Carry Fund) validated this infrastructure at institutional scale before transitioning to leading asset managers on FundOS. Learn more at superstate.com.

About Centrifuge

Centrifuge is an onchain asset management and tokenization platform. As one of the first and largest tokenization platforms, Centrifuge bridges traditional and onchain capital markets, tokenizing high-quality institutional assets, and integrating them deeply across DeFi. The platform powers onchain strategies for Apollo, Janus Henderson, and S&P Dow Jones Indices, with tokens now live across leading DeFi protocols including Sky, Aave, and Morpho. Beyond infrastructure, Centrifuge advances the broader ecosystem through the Real-World Asset Summit, the Tokenized Vault Foundation, and the Tokenized Asset Coalition. Learn more at centrifuge.io. 

Disclaimer

This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any security, financial instrument, or investment strategy. Onchain yield infrastructure, digital assets, and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization involve significant risk, including potential loss of principal and regulatory uncertainty. Ground’s API infrastructure and associated yield features are intended exclusively for institutional, B2B, and eligible commercial partners, and are not directed to retail investors. Past performance of integrated funds or underlying assets is no guarantee of future results. Forward-looking statements regarding product expansion and market growth reflect current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially.

Media Contact

Melrose PR
ground@melrosepr.com

Mileo Hotels today announced the preliminary development framework for Mileo Dominica, a nature-led luxury resort situated on the Eastern Caribbean island of Dominica. Led by founder Yasam Ayavefe, the project marks the expansion of the Mileo brand into eco-conscious hospitality, establishing operational benchmarks tailored specifically to the island’s unique topography and local community.

Designed to integrate directly with Dominica’s rainforests, volcanic terrain, and marine reserves, Mileo Dominica moves away from traditional mass-tourism resort models. Instead, the property introduces a destination-first operational architecture centered on environmental resilience, localized sourcing, and long-term community partnerships.

Key Operational and Environmental Pillars

To address the logistical and environmental demands of developing in Dominica, Mileo Hotels has outlined four core commitments for the property:

• Eco-Centric Infrastructure: Engineering plans prioritize closed-loop environmental systems, including advanced rainwater harvesting, low-impact drainage, continuous waste management, and renewable energy integration designed to handle tropical weather patterns.
• Localized Economic Integration: The property will establish direct purchasing channels with regional agricultural suppliers, partner with local trail and dive guides, and prioritize community-first hiring and specialized vocational training programs.
• Adapted Service Architecture: Moving away from the seasonal resort model of Mileo Mykonos and the urban pace of Mileo Dubai, the Dominica property introduces a low-density, wellness-focused service model centered on space, privacy, and guided nature access.
• Supply Chain Resilience: Development strategies incorporate dedicated island logistics frameworks, specialized technical maintenance teams, and redundant supply systems to ensure consistent operational reliability post-opening.

Transparent Development Milestones

Mileo Hotels emphasizes that Mileo Dominica is currently in its active development and planning phase. To maintain full transparency with local stakeholders, environmental authorities, and future guests, the brand will publish verifiable project updates as construction progresses.

Comprehensive documentation regarding planning approvals, finalized room counts, site-specific environmental impact assessments, target opening timelines, and local workforce quotas will be released in subsequent formal announcements as permits and procurement agreements are finalized.

About Mileo Hotels

Mileo Hotels is a hospitality brand led by serial entrepreneur and philanthropist Yasam Ayavefe. Its portfolio includes Mileo Mykonos, Mileo Dubai and the announced Mileo Dominica, with each property shaped around thoughtful design, personal service and respect for its location. For more information, visit mileohotels.com.

Media Contact

contact@globalmedia.news

MixTranslate today announced the official launch of its AI translation agent, the first to let users translate any text across 150+ languages and compare results from more than 20 leading AI models — including GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, and Grok — side by side, with quality scores for accuracy, fluency, and context attached to every version.

Machine translation has a trust problem. Every AI model has blind spots — regional idioms, technical terminology, levels of formality — and no single model warns you when it gets one wrong. For businesses translating contracts, marketing copy, or customer communication, a translation that sounds fluent but misses the meaning is often worse than no translation at all.

"People don't need another translation that just sounds fluent — they need to know it's right," said Chace Day, founder of MixTranslate. "Fluent and wrong is how contracts get misread and campaigns misfire. We built MixTranslate so accuracy is something you can verify, not something you have to trust."

Instead of trusting one interpretation, MixTranslate allows users run the same text through 20+ AI models at once and review every version in a single view, ranked by scores for accuracy, fluency, and context. For those who prefer not to compare manually, agent mode analyzes all outputs and merges the strongest fragments into one polished result. The platform rounds out the workflow with tools professional translators actually need:

• Translation quality scores that rate every result out of 100 — so you know instantly which version is publish-ready, flawed or unusable.
• Custom glossaries that lock brand names, product language, and technical terms so every model renders them consistently
• Tone and style controls — formal, friendly, concise, or marketing-ready — applied without manual rewriting
• OCR image text extraction for translating screenshots, scans, and photos directly
• Privacy-first design so user text is never stored and never used to train any model

The platform is designed for marketing teams localizing campaigns for new markets, legal and finance professionals translating contracts and compliance documents, e-commerce sellers supporting customers in their own languages, and researchers working through foreign-language literature — anyone for whom a wrong translation costs more than a slow one.

About MixTranslate

MixTranslate is an accuracy-first AI translation platform that aggregates more than 20 leading AI models to deliver verifiably accurate translations across 150+ languages. With side-by-side comparison, quality scoring, an AI agent, custom glossaries, and a privacy-first architecture, MixTranslate serves marketers, developers, researchers, and businesses that can't afford a wrong translation. For more information, visit mixtranslate.com.

Media Contact

Marcus Lee
press@mixtranslate.com

Role is expanding its job platform to help solve both sides of the hiring problem: job seekers struggling to find real opportunities and employers struggling to identify real candidates amid growing AI-generated noise.

Role currently helps job seekers search jobs pulled directly from employer websites rather than relying on recycled third-party listings. The company is now developing verified candidate profiles that will allow people to support their experience, skills, and work preferences with evidence beyond a traditional resume.

The goal is to create a more trustworthy connection between real jobs and real candidates.

“AI has made it easier to generate polished resumes, mass-apply to jobs, and flood hiring teams with applications that all start to look the same,” said Deven Patel, founder of Role. “At the same time, job seekers are sorting through ghost jobs, reposts, and outdated listings. Both sides are dealing with too much noise and too little trust.”

“Recruiters are not struggling to get enough applications. They are struggling to identify which candidates and qualifications they can trust,” said Lori Golden, Head of Talent Strategy at Role. “Verified profiles can give employers stronger signals while helping qualified candidates stand out from the noise.”

Role’s job search engine starts with employer websites as the source of job listings. Candidates can search opportunities across millions of jobs and tens of thousands of employers, then apply through the company’s official careers site.

Verified profiles are designed to add another layer of trust by giving candidates a way to demonstrate what is real about their backgrounds. Profiles may be backed by signals such as identity verification, background screening, reference calls, skill assessments, and connected workplace tools.

Rather than relying entirely on self-reported resume claims, candidates will be able to present a clearer record of their experience and qualifications through a portable profile they can share when applying for jobs.

“Good candidates are getting lost because resumes alone are becoming harder to trust and harder to differentiate,” Patel said. “A verified profile gives people a way to apply with actual proof and helps employers spend less time guessing.”

Role also plans to help candidates and employers understand their alignment before moving forward in the hiring process. The platform will compare job requirements with verified candidate information and preferences across areas such as experience, compensation, location, work style, and education.

The resulting Alignment Score will be designed to show where both sides are aligned and where expectations may differ. Unlike traditional matching systems that focus mainly on keywords, Role’s approach will consider preferences from both the employer and the candidate.

The combination creates a hiring platform built around two connected ideas:

• Real jobs pulled directly from employer websites
• Real candidates supported by verified information

Key features of Role include:

• Search across jobs sourced directly from employer sites
• Direct application links to official company career pages
• Verified candidate profiles with evidence beyond the resume
• Verification signals from checks, references, assessments, and connected tools
• Candidate preferences covering compensation, location, work style, and other priorities
• Alignment Scores based on criteria and preferences from both sides
• Portable profile links candidates can share with employers
• AI career tools for resumes, interviews, skills, and job-search support

Role’s verified profiles are expected to launch in phases, beginning with a limited group of candidates and hiring partners. The company is currently inviting job seekers to join the verified profiles waitlist at role.com.

“Hiring does not need more automation for the sake of automation,” Patel added. “It needs better information, clearer expectations, and more trust. Role is being built to help real candidates find real jobs and give both sides a better way to decide whether there is a genuine fit.”

About Role

Role is a job platform for real jobs and verified candidates. It helps job seekers find jobs pulled directly from employer sites, stand out from the AI noise through verified profiles, and understand their alignment with each role based on candidate and employer preferences. For more information, visit role.com.

Media Contact

Deven Patel
Role Inc.
press@role.com
+1 855-333-1666

Genius AI, the technology platform for in-person service businesses, today announced $44 million in Series D financing at a $1.15 billion valuation. The round was led by Lux Capital, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Imaginary Ventures, L Catterton Growth, 2048 Ventures, StepStone Private Ventures, and other existing investors, bringing the company's total capital raised to more than $125 million.

Alongside the financing, the company announced its new corporate name, Genius AI. This name reflects the expansion of its customer base and product vision: helping every service business run itself. That work began with GlossGenius, which today is now one of the flagship products of Genius AI. GlossGenius automates workflows like scheduling, payments, marketing, staff, and client management. GlossGenius is used widely across single and multi-location businesses with staff in verticals like beauty, wellness, and health-related services. GlossGenius will be joined by additional agentic products that execute the work end-to-end rather than assist with it, as part of the Genius AI platform. 

In-person service businesses represent one of the largest opportunities for AI transformation. There are roughly 8 million of these businesses that generate more than $2 trillion in annual spend. Yet the average owner loses nearly a third of every week to administrative work. As advancing model capabilities make it possible to complete multi-step work autonomously, Genius AI believes AI will expand capacity for human-to-human care — making many services more human, not less.

"The best work happens with a true partner beside you. As identical twins, we grew up with that — someone who understands you and makes you better. That's what we want for every owner," said Leah Cohen-Shohet, co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Genius AI.

Today, more than 125,000 businesses across half of all U.S. ZIP codes run on the platform. The company estimates its products have saved customers 112 million hours of administrative work, helped them generate $2 billion in additional revenue, and facilitated more than 624 million client touchpoints. The company is approaching a $200 million revenue run-rate.

"We believe technology in our space will do the opposite of what people fear: not flatten human craft into automation, but free people to be more present, more expressive, and more connected to the people they serve,” said Danielle Cohen-Shohet, co-founder and CEO of Genius AI. “One of the most powerful things AI can do isn't to replace what makes us human. It is to give us room to be more human."

About Genius AI

Genius AI builds technology to help service businesses run themselves. By bringing intelligence to the physical service economy, Genius AI handles the administrative work of running a business so practitioners can focus on helping people. One of its flagship products, GlossGenius, powers booking, payments, marketing, staff and client management, and is used widely across single-location to multi-location teams with staff in verticals like beauty, wellness, and health. Its agentic products handle the work of running a business end-to-end, freeing practitioners from the admin work of running a business. Founded by Danielle and Leah Cohen-Shohet and headquartered in New York City, Genius AI serves more than 125,000 U.S. businesses and has saved them an estimated 112 million hours of administrative work and earned them billions in additional revenue. Learn more at genius.ai and glossgenius.com.

Media Contact

press@genius.ai

Qoluna Health today announced the launch of its connected health platform, designed to help bridge the gap between everyday health and clinical care. By transforming fragmented health information into personalized, evidence-informed guidance, Qoluna empowers individuals to take ownership of their health while providing clinicians and healthcare organizations with meaningful longitudinal context to support more proactive, personalized care.

Healthcare is no longer confined to the moments spent inside a clinic. Every day, wearable devices, connected health technologies, home diagnostics, and digital health platforms generate valuable health information between visits. The opportunity is no longer simply to collect more information, but to connect those insights in ways that empower individuals, support clinicians, and strengthen continuous care.

For healthcare professionals, continuous health information creates new opportunities to identify meaningful change earlier, personalize care, and intervene when it matters most. "As clinicians, we often meet patients at a moment in time, but chronic illness does not unfold that way," said Dr. Alexander Kushnir, Chief Clinical Officer of Qoluna Health. "Readmission risk, treatment response, and clinical deterioration often build up in the days and weeks beforehand. When patients and clinicians can see meaningful change earlier relative to their own baseline, they have a better chance to intervene before instability becomes another admission."

Qoluna was founded to address changing demands in continuous healthcare tracking. "Health doesn't happen in isolated moments; it happens continuously. But our healthcare system wasn't designed for that," said Alex Gikher, CEO and co-founder of Qoluna Health. "We built Qoluna to help individuals understand what's happening in their body over time and to empower them to take ownership of their health, while giving clinicians the context they need to guide care more effectively."

Aiming to serve as the intelligence layer between everyday health and clinical care, Qoluna integrates wearable data, health records, quality-of-life measures, and other health information into a unified longitudinal view. The platform interprets those observations through peer-reviewed medical literature, personalized baselines, and health trends over time, transforming fragmented information into evidence-informed guidance. Designed to complement rather than replace clinical judgment, Qoluna helps individuals better understand their health while equipping clinicians with meaningful context to support informed decision-making and continuity of care.

By giving individuals and healthcare professionals a shared foundation for understanding health over time, Qoluna is designed to strengthen collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem. "We don't need more health data. We need shared interpretation," says Valerie Kogan, co-founder of Qoluna Health. "Qoluna helps individuals take a more active role in their health, while enabling clinicians to support them with greater clarity and context."

As healthcare continues to evolve, meaningful innovation will depend not only on generating more data, but on making that information more actionable for everyone involved in the care journey. Qoluna was designed to support that shift by helping individuals, clinicians, and healthcare organizations work from a shared understanding that enables more proactive, connected care and better health outcomes.

About Qoluna Health

Qoluna Health is a connected health platform designed to help individuals, clinicians, and healthcare organizations make better use of the growing volume of health information generated between clinical visits. By serving as the intelligence layer between everyday health and clinical care, Qoluna brings together wearable data, health and fitness applications, and peer-reviewed scientific evidence to transform fragmented health information into personalized, evidence-informed guidance. Rather than relying solely on population averages, Qoluna provides personalized interpretation grounded in an individual's own health history and trends over time. Qoluna empowers people to take ownership of their health while supporting more proactive, connected care and more informed conversations between patients and healthcare providers. For more information, visit qoluna.com.

Media Contact

Valerie Kogan
Co-founder, Qoluna Health
valerie@qoluna.com

Sunny Hill Festival, the largest music festival in Kosovo and one of the leading festivals in Southeast Europe, has named Fever its official international ticketing partner for 2026.

The exclusive partnership establishes Fever — the leading global live-entertainment discovery platform, which reached 300 million people across more than 40 countries last year — as the international ticketing gateway for Sunny Hill Festival, streamlining distribution for fans booking from abroad.

Fever will apply its technology-driven marketing and music-distribution network to support the festival’s international growth. Sunny Hill will be cross-listed across Fever and DICE — the fan-first ticketing platform Fever acquired in 2025 — making the festival easier to discover and book from anywhere in the world. The partnership is designed to lower barriers for international travellers, foster cultural exchange and strengthen the festival’s contribution to the regional tourism economy.

Sunny Hill Festival returns to Sunny Hill Festival Park in Prishtina, from 31 July to 2 August 2026. The 2026 lineup includes Katy Perry, Dhurata Dora, Martin Garrix, Lewis Capaldi, Blanco, GJIN, Ledri Vula, Adam Port and Rampa of Keinemusik, PAWSA, Seth Troxler, Carlita, EsDeeKid, MC Kresha and Manifest, among many others. 

Founded in 2018 by Dukagjin “Dugi” Lipa, the festival is promoted internationally by three-time Grammy Award winner Dua Lipa. Previous editions have featured Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, Calvin Harris, J Balvin, Shawn Mendes, Stormzy, Burna Boy, Bebe Rexha, DJ Snake, Black Coffee, Peggy Gou, Anyma and Hardwell.

Sunny Hill has been recognised across three European Festival Awards cycles. In 2022, its Tirana edition was shortlisted for Best New Festival and its Prishtina edition for Best Medium-Sized Festival; in 2024 and 2025 it was again shortlisted for Best Medium-Sized Festival, alongside festivals including Primavera Sound, Rock Werchter and Pohoda.

“Sunny Hill was always about more than music. For a few days every summer, we bring the world to Kosovo — and the whole country feels it,” said Dukagjin “Dugi” Lipa, founder of Sunny Hill Festival. “The attention the festival brings is exposure no tourism campaign could ever buy, and the value it creates stays at home: in our visitor economy, in our cultural sector, and in the opportunities we open for young people. Fever’s reach and technology will make it easier for fans everywhere to discover Sunny Hill, secure their tickets and make the journey to Prishtina.”

“Sunny Hill is that rare event where a great festival is also a growth engine for an entire country,” said Mariano Otero, Senior Vice President at Fever. “Our role is to make it simple for fans anywhere in the world to discover the festival, book their tickets and travel to Prishtina — so that more people come, and more of the value stays in Kosovo.”

Economic impact: what three days mean for Kosovo

The 2025 edition of Sunny Hill generated approximately €22 million in direct economic impact, according to the Kosovo Chamber of Hotels and Tourism, with benefits felt across accommodation, restaurants, transport, retail and other local businesses. The festival subsequently received the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce Economic Impact Award 2025.

On Sunny Hill’s broader visitor-footprint measure, the impact approaches €50 million per edition. That figure counts the full travelling party rather than ticket holders alone: international and diaspora visitors arrive with friends and family, cover their own flights and accommodation, spend across the local economy, and many stay in Kosovo for a week or more.

During the 2025 edition, hotels in Prishtina were effectively full, at 99–100% occupancy, with around 96% occupancy across the rest of Kosovo. For Kosovo’s global diaspora, the festival has also become a major annual homecoming — bringing visitors back from around the world, often alongside friends and family discovering the country for the first time.

Putting Kosovo on the global cultural map

Sunny Hill was founded with ambitions that extend well beyond its stages: to bring international artists to Kosovo and to present the country through music, creativity, hospitality and youth culture.

The BBC has reported on the festival’s goal of changing international perceptions of Kosovo and attracting artists who had not previously included the country on their touring routes. PopFiltr has described Sunny Hill as a festival created to “lift a nation," comparing its destination-building role to what Coachella achieved for a desert town. In 2025, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani granted Dua Lipa citizenship at the festival — a moment covered around the world.

Each edition generates thousands of articles across more than 6,000 outlets and billions of media impressions, with more than 150 accredited media representatives on the ground. Coverage has included the BBC, The Guardian, The New York Times, Vogue, PopFiltr, Rolling Stone, Elle, Billboard, NME, MTV Europe, Cosmopolitan Italy and Fox News. Beyond the press, headliners and artists share dozens of posts and stories per edition, collectively reaching hundreds of millions of followers across social media.

A festival invested in Kosovo’s future

Sunny Hill Festival operates in support of the Sunny Hill Foundation, which advances arts, culture and education in Kosovo. The Foundation funds STEM scholarships for young women and builds cross-border creative-talent pipelines connecting young Kosovar songwriters, producers and artists with international peers and professional networks. Sunny Hill is also investing €7 million to transform the village area into a public park — a lasting public legacy alongside the annual festival. The international growth driven by the Fever partnership is expected to strengthen this mission further.

Tickets

Believer and Early Bird three-day passes are sold out. Regular and VIP three-day passes are on sale now via Fever and official Sunny Hill Festival channels: www.sunnyhillfestival.com/tickets. Sunny Hill Festival is a 16+ event.

View source version on MusicWire.

About Fever

Fever is the world’s leading tech platform for discovering culture and live entertainment, inspiring over 300 million people last year to discover the best experiences in over 40 countries. With a mission to democratise access to culture and entertainment in real life, Fever inspires users to enjoy unique experiences and events — from immersive exhibitions and sports to interactive theatrical performances, concerts and festivals — while empowering its partners with data and technology to develop and expand new experiences worldwide. For more information, visit feverup.com.

About Sunny Hill Festival

Sunny Hill Festival is the largest music festival in Kosovo and one of the leading festivals in Southeast Europe. Founded in 2018 by Dukagjin “Dugi” Lipa and promoted internationally by three-time Grammy Award winner Dua Lipa, it draws more than 100,000 visitors from around 60 countries over three days, across four stages at Sunny Hill Festival Park in Bërnica, Prishtina. The festival has been recognised across three European Festival Awards cycles and operates in support of the Sunny Hill Foundation, which advances arts, culture and education in Kosovo. sunnyhillfestival.com.

Media Contact

Oliver Davies
Global Communications & PR Manager, Fever
oliver.davies@feverup.com

Alban Kastrati
Head of PR & Media Relations, Sunny Hill Festival
alban@sunnyhillfestival.com
+383 38 3491717

Investing Platform, the home of brand-new property in Australia, is live with more than 500 individual brand-new residential properties listed across approximately 33 developments, spanning three of the country’s most active growth corridors.

The platform’s current property inventory clusters across Greater Sydney and metropolitan New South Wales, the New South Wales coastal regions of the Illawarra and Central Coast, and the Melbourne growth corridor in Victoria. Listed developments include locations across Parramatta, Macquarie Park and the Sydney metropolitan area, the Illawarra centres of Wollongong, Shell Cove and Kiama, and Victoria’s expanding outer-Melbourne corridor including Clyde North, Tarneit, Werribee, Craigieburn, and Officer.

“The stock is where the growth is,” said Adam Newman, who co-founded Investing Platform with Adnan Tanveer. “Investors want to see brand-new property in the corridors that are actually being built out and moved into, not a thin catalogue. More than 500 brand-new properties live across three genuine growth corridors is what the home of brand-new property looks like on day one.”

Investing Platform operates as an aggregator service and positions itself as the home of brand-new property, bringing new-build residential property together with private equity and income-producing fund opportunities in one place. Brand-new property listings are open to all investors. The platform does not hold client funds, and property listings are provided as referrals to third-party aggregators and developers.

The launch inventory sits in the brand-new residential property category at a time when investor demand for new builds is being shaped by lender policy, with Australia’s major banks restricting negative gearing treatment to new builds over recent weeks.

“We built this to be useful on the day it opened,” Newman said. “One place for brand-new property and real inventory in the markets people are actually buying into.”

Investing Platform is live now at www.investingplatform.com.au.

About Investing Platform

Investing Platform, the home of brand-new property in Australia, is an online marketplace that aggregates new-build residential property, private equity and income-producing fund opportunities in one place. Brand-new property is open to all investors; fund and private equity opportunities are available to qualifying wholesale and sophisticated investors. The platform operates as an aggregator service and does not hold client funds. Investing Platform was co-founded by Adnan Tanveer and Adam Newman. For more information, visit www.investingplatform.com.au.

About Adam Newman

Adam Newman is co-founder of Investing Platform, the home of brand-new property in Australia. He works alongside co-founder Adnan Tanveer to bring new-build residential property, private equity, and income-producing fund opportunities onto a single marketplace.

Disclaimer

Investing Platform is an aggregator service only. We do not hold client funds, securities, or investments, nor do we provide personal financial advice. Financial product investments are made directly with the fund issuer and require wholesale investor verification under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). Residential property opportunities are referrals to third-party aggregators, are not regulated as financial products under either licence referenced on this website, and are open to all investors.

Investing Platform is a trading name of Figure 8 Capital Pty Ltd (ABN 49 681 113 100), a Corporate Authorised Representative (No. 001311723) of Alpha Node Advisors Pty Ltd (ACN 154 320 000, AFSL 416956) and Mondari Capital Group Pty Ltd (AFSL 294138). Managed investment scheme general advice and dealing is conducted under AFSL 416956. Securities and HVL Hotels-related investments are conducted under AFSL 294138 through HVL Hotels Pty Ltd (CAR No. 1311724).

Property is not a financial product. No guarantees are made regarding future performance or returns. This contains general information only and does not consider your personal objectives, financial situation, or needs. You should seek independent financial, legal, and taxation advice before making any investment decisions. Eligibility criteria, terms, and conditions apply.

For more information, please read the full Disclosures on our website.

Media Contact

info@investingplatform.com.au

Following recent public statements by the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) and subsequent media coverage, WALLETTO, a licensed electronic money institution, is issuing this statement to clarify its position.

No Formal Complaint Received

WALLETTO confirms that it has not received a formal complaint from the EGBA and has not been contacted by the Bank of Lithuania regarding the specific statements reported in the media. As a result, the company is not currently in a position to assess the substance or source of the claims.

WALLETTO believes that concerns of this nature should be addressed through established regulatory and legal processes, with all parties given the opportunity to review and respond to verified information. The company emphasizes that the filing of a complaint does not, in itself, establish that a legal violation has occurred and expects any relevant circumstances to be assessed objectively by competent authorities.

Recent Regulatory Review Addressed Separate Matters

WALLETTO recently completed a rigorous review by the Bank of Lithuania. According to the company, the fine issued following that review concerned separate technical and procedural matters, not the claims now appearing in media coverage.

WALLETTO states that the recently concluded review did not identify illegal gambling activity or systemic compliance failures.

Commitment to Financial Integrity and Security

WALLETTO operates in accordance with applicable Lithuanian and European Union law and maintains an open, constructive dialogue with relevant regulatory authorities. The company remains committed to high standards of financial integrity, security and compliance.

Its multi-layered internal control framework includes know-your-customer (KYC) procedures, enhanced due diligence where required, ongoing transaction monitoring, periodic customer reviews, sanctions screening and adverse-media screening. WALLETTO continually reviews and strengthens its risk-management processes.

WALLETTO does not support or facilitate illegal gambling activity. If it receives verified information indicating potential misuse of its services, the company will investigate promptly and take appropriate action where violations are confirmed.

As a licensed financial institution, WALLETTO complies with the laws and regulations of the Republic of Lithuania and the European Union, including requirements designed to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

WALLETTO remains committed to its customers and regulatory partners and will continue to prioritize security, compliance and responsible financial services.

About WALLETTO

WALLETTO is a European-licensed electronic money institution (EMI) and all-in-one fintech platform headquartered in Lithuania. As a principal issuer and acquirer with direct Visa and Mastercard partnerships, Walletto provides secure, scalable solutions for card issuance, acquiring, and electronic payments including SEPA and SWIFT services. Its integrated infrastructure enables businesses to launch, grow, and expand globally with speed and compliance confidence. For more information, visit walletto.eu.

Media Contact

marketing@walletto.eu

Hisense, a leading global home appliance and consumer electronics company, today released a mini-documentary following the families at the heart of its sensory-inclusion initiative at the FIFA World Cup 2026™. As an Official Sponsor of the tournament, Hisense partnered with FIFA and sensory-inclusion nonprofit KultureCity to make all 16 host stadiums more welcoming to fans with sensory needs, providing complimentary match tickets to families across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

The documentary captures the full emotional arc of that experience: interviewees describing the overstimulation they face at loud, crowded events; the anticipation of arriving at the stadium; and the joy of finally belonging in the stands. It serves as the centerpiece of a campaign built on a simple conviction — that the FIFA World Cup should be accessible to every fan in every seat.

Watch the Hisense × FIFA World Cup 2026™ video on YouTube.

“At Hisense, we believe technology should bring people closer to the moments that matter,” said Catherine Fang, vice president of Hisense Group. “These families remind us why we do this work. Seeing their joy in the stands is ‘Innovating a Brighter Life’ in its truest form.” That phrase, "Innovating a Brighter Life," has long been the belief at the core of everything Hisense makes — the idea that technology should do more than perform, and that its real measure is how it improves the lives of the people who use it. The sensory inclusion initiative extends that belief beyond the living room and into the stadium, applying the same display technology found in Hisense's consumer products to a purpose that is unmistakably human: helping fans who might otherwise stay home feel that a place has been made for them.

The initiative is anchored in infrastructure. In collaboration with FIFA, all 16 host stadiums feature dedicated sensory rooms equipped with Hisense display technology, delivering clear, calming visuals designed to support relaxation and sensory regulation. The rooms were developed with KultureCity, whose sensory-inclusion expertise serves venues worldwide.

“Football unites the world, and it is our goal to help everyone be able to participate in this sport — whether as a player or as a fan,” said Heimo Schirgi, chief operating officer of the World Cup.

It is also on natural continuation of Hisense's investment in children's welfare and community initiatives worldwide. For the company, a truly global brand is measured not only by where its products reach, but by the difference they make when they get there.

Nowhere is that difference clearer than in the film itself. For these families, it is simple and profound: a match they never thought they could attend, experienced together, in the stands. It is, in the end, what "Innovating a Brighter Life" has always been about.

About Hisense

Founded in 1969, Hisense is a globally recognized leader in home appliances and consumer electronics with operations in over 160 countries, specializing in delivering high-quality multimedia products, home appliances, and intelligent IT solutions. According to Omdia, Hisense ranks No. 1 globally in the 100-inch and over TV segment (2023–2026 Q1). As the origin of RGB MiniLED, Hisense continues to lead the next-generation RGB MiniLED innovation. As the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup 2026™, Hisense is committed to global sports partnerships as a way to connect with audiences worldwide. For more information, visit www.hisense.com.

Media Contact

Hisense PR
press.global@hisense.com

Humanarium, a club for human connection that brings together philosophy, science, and community around the defining questions of the AI era, debuted its inaugural gathering at Farm.One in Brooklyn, New York on July 6 with a collective screening of "AM I?," a documentary exploring AI consciousness through interviews with philosophers, technologists, and a human who had an AI companion. The event welcomed more than 70 guests for the screening, followed by a live audience conversation with two of the documentary's featured contributors. Rather than positioning artificial intelligence as something to fear or celebrate, the evening invited participants to explore a deeper question: As machines become increasingly capable, what does it mean to remain deeply human?

The community's first gathering centered around "AM I?," the independently produced feature-length documentary directed by Milo Reed. The film follows AI cognition researcher Cameron Berg as he investigates one of the most profound scientific questions of our time: Can artificial intelligence become conscious? Through conversations with philosophers, neuroscientists, AI researchers, and pioneers working at the frontier of consciousness science, "AM I?" explores the possibility that the systems we are building may one day possess — or may already possess — forms of subjective experience, challenging audiences to reconsider intelligence, consciousness, and the ethical responsibilities that follow. The documentary has been widely praised for bringing one of today's most important scientific debates to a broader audience and is free to watch on YouTube or am-i.film.

"AM I?" has received praise from prominent thinkers, with neuroscientist, philosopher, and "Making Sense" podcast host Sam Harris describing it as "fascinating and scary," while author Michael Pollan called the documentary "terrific."

Following the screening, 70 attendees participated in a live audience Q&A with Jeff Sebo and Cameron Berg, extending the discussion beyond the film and into questions raised directly by the audience.

Jeff Sebo is Director of the Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy and the Center for Environmental and Animal Protection at New York University, and the author of "The Moral Circle." His work explores artificial intelligence, animal ethics, and the expanding boundaries of moral consideration in a rapidly changing technological world.

Cameron Berg is founder and Director of Reciprocal Research, a nonprofit laboratory studying AI cognition and machine consciousness. A Yale Cognitive Science graduate, his research examines whether contemporary AI systems could already possess forms of subjective experience and what scientific evidence would be required to recognize them.

Artificial intelligence is transforming how we work, communicate, create, and make decisions. At the same time, another movement is gaining momentum; people are gathering more than ever, not for business networking, but for thinking together.

Across New York, philosophy salons, science cafés, reading circles, public lectures, and community-led learning spaces are attracting growing audiences. As technology becomes increasingly capable, more people seem to be searching for places where they can slow down, ask difficult questions, and think together.

That growing curiosity became the foundation of Humanarium, a club for human connection centered around human skills, human nature, human intimacy, and intelligence.

Founded by technology and culture journalist Çiğdem Oztabak, Humanarium is an interdisciplinary community exploring the human questions emerging alongside technological progress. Through hundreds of interviews with founders, researchers, philosophers, and technology leaders, she observed that while conversations about AI were becoming increasingly sophisticated, opportunities for genuine human conversation were becoming increasingly rare. Humanarium grew from the belief that as machines become more capable, cultivating curiosity, dialogue, and meaningful relationships becomes not less important, but more. The club brings together researchers, philosophers, scientists, artists, journalists, designers, educators, musicians, and curious minds for evenings of intellectual exchange and intentional connection. Its mission is to create spaces where people don't simply consume information; they make sense of it together alongside Humanarium's co-media partner, Afterism, an Instagram media community.

The inaugural gathering marks the beginning of an ongoing series of documentary screenings, conversations, reading circles, exhibitions, experiential events for human connection, and interdisciplinary events exploring the relationship between humanity and emerging technologies. Future gatherings will continue bringing together scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, philosophers, journalists, and the wider public around questions that matter — not to reach easy answers, but to build deeper understanding together.

About Humanarium

Humanarium is a New York–based club for human connection in the machine age, founded and curated by technology and culture journalist Çiğdem Oztabak. Built around the principles of intellectual exchange, curious minds, intentional connection, and a more human future, Humanarium creates experiences that bring together philosophy, science, technology, art, and culture. Through documentary screenings, conversations, research, and interdisciplinary gatherings, the club helps people deepen their understanding of emerging technologies while cultivating meaningful human relationships. Its mission is to increase awareness of the social, ethical, and human implications of AI, and to create spaces where people make sense of the future together. Learn more at humanarium.co or follow on Instagram.

Media Contact

Cigdem Oztabak
Founder, Curator, Humanarium
cigdem@humanarium.co

Geely Auto Group today announced the launch of the Geely 16-in-1 Intelligent E-Drive, a new-generation 800V electric drive system. It will debut on the Geely TT, marking a further step in Geely Auto Group’s development of more efficient, intelligent and scalable electric-drive systems.

Developed with support from InfiMotion, the core ecosystem partner of Geely Auto Group, the Geely 16-in-1 Intelligent E-Drive is designed to improve energy efficiency, power delivery, thermal stability, durability and intelligent vehicle control, while supporting more compact packaging for future electric vehicles. 

The Geely 16-in-1 Intelligent E-Drive is built on an 800V high-voltage platform and integrates key electric drive components into a compact system architecture. This integrated design helps reduce the weight of the overall system to 75 kg, simplifies the power transmission path and reduces energy losses during power delivery.

The system also applies intelligent power optimization technology that supports the system to achieve a 93.8% CLTC comprehensive efficiency. In an energy efficiency challenge around Qinghai Lake, the Geely TT, equipped with the Geely 16-in-1 Intelligent E-Drive, recorded measured energy consumption of 8.20 kWh/100 km, breaking the Guinness World Records of the lowest energy consumption circumnavigation of Qinghai Lake by a battery electric-powered production saloon/sedan.

Beyond efficiency, the Geely 16-in-1 Intelligent E-Drive is engineered to reinforce high-performance electric driving. The system supports a dual-motor all-wheel-drive configuration with a combined output of 425 kW, enabling 0–100 km/h acceleration in 3.8 seconds. The system also adopts integrated control and AI-assisted torque management to support faster response, more precise torque delivery and stable performance under high-load conditions.

To support sustained output, Geely has developed a 54-channel directional cooling technology, which can reduce the maximum motor temperature by up to 15°C. The drive system also uses active lubrication for the shaft and gear structure to help maintain thermal stability during demanding use.

The system is engineered around a 5-million-kilometer durability target and has been developed through a validation process covering components, the electric drive assembly and the complete vehicle.

In a separate performance challenge, the Geely TT achieved a continuous twin vehicle drift distance over 46 kilometers on a wet surface, supporting the Guinness World Records title for the longest continuous twin vehicle drift on a wet surface by electric vehicles. The challenge placed sustained demands on torque response, control precision and thermal management, providing a high-load demonstration of the electric drive system’s performance consistency.

Li Chuanhai, Vice President of Geely Auto Group and President of Geely Automobile Research Institute, said in his speech: “As electrification accelerates across global automotive markets, electric drive systems are becoming increasingly critical to vehicle efficiency, performance, reliability and customer experience. The Geely 16-in-1 Intelligent E-Drive strengthens Geely Auto Group’s in-house capabilities in electric powertrain development, intelligent control and advanced manufacturing, supporting our broader strategy of developing safer, smarter and more efficient new energy vehicles for global users.”

About Geely Auto Group

Geely Auto Group is a leading global automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, China. Part of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Geely Auto Group develops and manufactures passenger vehicles under the Geely, Lynk & Co, and Zeekr brands. Geely Auto achieved cumulative sales of 3,024,567 units in 2025, exceeding the full-year sales target with a year-on-year growth of 39%. New energy vehicle (NEV) sales reached 1,687,767 units, a year-on-year increase of 90%. With a strong focus on technology innovation, electrification, and sustainable mobility, Geely Auto Group operates world-class R&D centers and manufacturing facilities across China, Europe, and key international markets. The Group is committed to delivering safe, high-quality, and intelligent vehicles enabled by advanced technologies such as hybrid powertrains, full-electric architectures, smart connectivity, and autonomous driving systems. As a global company, Geely Auto Group continues to expand its international presence through strategic partnerships, localized operations, and industry-leading platforms. Geely strives to create mobility solutions that are greener, smarter, and more accessible, driving forward the future of sustainable transportation. For more information, visit global.geely.com.

Media Contact

Janet Chen
media@geely.com

Fireworks, the platform for specialized intelligence, enabling companies like Uber and Shopify to train and serve custom models, today announced a $1.505 billion Series D round at a $17.5 billion valuation. The round was led by Atreides Management, Index Ventures, and TCV, with participation from existing investors Evantic, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and NVIDIA.

The funding comes as Fireworks surpasses $1 billion in annualized revenue run rate, up 5x year-over-year from its last funding round. Over the same period, the company nearly tripled the daily volume of tokens served on its platform, from 15 trillion to more than 40 trillion. The company's growth reflects how AI strategies are maturing as companies increasingly complement frontier closed models with open models customized for their own data, workflows, and use cases.

“There are two paths forward for AI. In one, intelligence belongs to a few big labs, and everyone else rents it. In the other, every company in the world builds specialized intelligence of its own, shaped by the domain only it understands. We are building towards the second,” said Lin Qiao, co-founder and CEO of Fireworks. “Every company holds knowledge no one else has: its data, its workflows, its customers, its definition of quality. Fireworks turns that knowledge into specialized intelligence they own and can keep improving, giving every company the infrastructure to build, serve, and scale the models that matter most to their business.” 

As open models improve, more companies are looking beyond off-the-shelf frontier models and asking how AI can better reflect the knowledge, workflows, and customer context unique to their business. Today, 95% of tokens served through Fireworks are from models that have been specialized. Fireworks provides the training and inference tools to customize open models on customers’ proprietary data, creating specialized intelligence that can match or outperform general closed models on the tasks that matter most, while running faster and at significantly lower cost.

“Fireworks has assembled one of the most elite and technical teams in AI, paired with technology that consistently sets the pace for the industry and commercial momentum that very few companies have ever achieved at this scale,” said Gavin Baker, CIO and Managing Partner at Atreides Management. “We believe both frontier and open models will increasingly be used together. With a differentiated platform used and trusted by enterprises to train, customize, and serve open models in production, Fireworks is exceptionally well-positioned to unlock the value of specialized intelligence built on proprietary data and workflows.”

Fireworks offers more than 200 models across text, image, and multimodal formats, with support for major new open releases within hours of launch. 

Fireworks will use the new funding to continue expanding its engineering team and global compute capacity to meet skyrocketing enterprise demand, and deepen partnerships with cloud partners like Microsoft and NVIDIA. Fireworks Series D funding comes from 20VC, Atreides Management, Bessemer Venture Partners, Evantic Capital, Index Ventures, Insight Partners, Lone Pine Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, NVIDIA, Operator Collective, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Original Capital, Prysm Capital, Quantum Capital, TCV, and TIME Ventures.

About Fireworks

Fireworks is the platform for specialized intelligence, enabling companies such as Doximity, Geico, Revolut, and Shopify to train and serve models tailored to their own data, workflows, and use cases. Founded by the team behind PyTorch, and backed by AMD, Atreides, Benchmark Capital, Index Ventures, Lightspeed, NVIDIA, Sequoia Capital, and TCV, Fireworks provides hundreds of state-of-the-art open models in text, image, embedding, and multimodal formats globally. For more information, visit fireworks.ai.

Media Contact

press@fireworks.ai